The Underling of Underling
by Cogi
Summary: A girl gets dumped into a world with no skills, no equipment, and not even a name to her new body. Then, the first person to show her kindess is ... really?
1. A New Arrival

You know how it is in these kind of stories that the self insert always winds up with some kind of unique powers, or they wind up in a unique situation where they're pivotal to providing help that the protagonist needs? Yeah, our main character wishes that was them right now. It's been three months without anything interesting happening at all... Perhaps it's best to start at the beginning.

Our 'hero' finds themselves without a home and a name, down on their luck at the end of their rope, and just when things were at their bleakest, they got worse. It was a simple accident, a drunk driver running a red light. Of course nobody else was hurt, with their luck it was more like a targeted event. The truck missed every single car in the intersection and plowed right into the single person on the sidewalk. And then there was nothing. A black void as they floated there, with no sense of touch, sight, sound, anything.

But a voice broke through that darkness. "We know who you are. Your options are not pleasant." They say. "Eh? Options?" The confused corpse asks. "Because of your early demise, you do not have any suitable options on where to go …." There was a long pause, "Whats the catch?" They ask. But the voice doesn't respond immediately. They're left waiting in the void without time, floating there. And then the voice returned. "It has been too long since we have been entertained. You will entertain us, and be rewarded as you do. Do you accept?" There was a long pause before they sighed, "I suppose I don't really have much of a choice. Lets do it. So how does this work?"

However, the voice had no response. Color started to return to the world, and it was … in the middle of a busy street. People rushing by with outlandish outfits and weapons strapped to their waists and the like. Our newfound heroine quickly rushed to a nearby window of what seemed to be some kind of cafe, to take in their appearance. To describe it in a word, they were absolutely stunning. Their face was well defined, the jawline set in beauty, long red hair went down to their thighs behind them, and they wore a wonderful dress of forest green with black lace around the edges. With their sparkling emerald eyes they looked the perfect picture of a noblewoman who had never been cursed by the light of day. And so with confidence, they strode off, intending to find their new purpose here.

However, it was not so easy. Nobody came to them, the world was not in peril, no heroine needed her help, nothing. By the end of the first day she hadn't even managed to find a place to sleep. And the reason for that was … A complete lack of ID, a complete lack of money, of gear, of anything. She even tried going to the adventurer's guild and had her abilities assessed. Lowest marks across the board. This beautiful body and it's bountiful chest was completely unsuited for adventuring work. Not to mention her accuracy had gone down even though she didn't need glasses anymore.

So it was like this that their week went. And then the month …. and then three month's later, that beautiful black dress was rags. Sleeping on the side of the street in ditches would do that to you. Indeed, her beauty wasn't enough to get her a job and she wasn't ready to sell her body yet, instead just begging for food. Still, she was determined to tough it out. Lastation was tough on those who were unskilled, but that just meant she had to become skilled, right?

However, as one fateful day would have it, she (un)fortunately met her downfall. A girl with dark gray skin and green hair, with a hoodie shaped like that of a mouse caught her in front of a jeweler store, looking inward with envy, and tapped her on the shoulder, "Hey toots. Whats up with the ruined look? Aint nobody giving handouts in that store."

She turned too look at the girl and had to stop herself from wincing, she recognized her. It wasn't good that she met her, but it wasn't something she could just run from, "... Jealousy I guess. Got nowhere to go." She explains with a sigh. The hooded girl looks her over then looks back to the store. "Wanna make some money then? Names Linda by the way." The pretty girl looked back at her, "Crystal- wait what? Money?"

Linda nodded her head, "All you gotta do is go in there, use that pretty face of yours, distract the guards, the cameras, and the guy at the desk. I'll sneak around back and nab some of the stuff from the back room while everyone's distracted." Honestly, it wasn't a hard choice for the girl. Everyone was getting sick of giving her handouts, her prettiness was running thin on them. She steeled herself and took a deep breath, "I can't promise more than a few minutes." and with that Linda grinned. "All I need." She said before running off around a corner of the building.

Crystal shook her head slightly before she walked on in, an act of crime …. but it wasn't really a crime all she had to do was look pretty and distract them, and then she'd get some money and be better off. Maybe with some money she could manage to get an ID and get a real job! She strode up to the front desk and leaned forward, pushing the heavy weights on her chest against the top of the desk, making a soft 'plop' sound that instantly turned a few heads her way in the otherwise quiet store. And while she was ragged looking at the moment, her dress still looked noble enough that nobody really doubted she belonged there. She smiled and looked at the cashier behind the counter.

"Excuse me mister, I'm looking for some top end jewelry, none of this low value stuff you have out front, I really need something that suits me, everything out here is far to cheap." She fluttered her lashes a few times, putting on her brightest smile, making the man hot under the collar as he gulped, "Ah yes well, if you would just uhm …. this guard will take …. This guard here will lead you to the more expensive stuff in the back." And she smiled, "Oh nonsense, while I'm sure that guard has to come for security reasons, I'd reaalllly like to hear your opinion when I try them on." She says.

The man started stammering again before nodding his head, and indicating for her to follow him to a side room in the back, the guard also looking nervous and coming along with as she put on a show of trying on jewelry and spinning around, making herself look good. The cameras even stopped rotating as it was clear the people managing them wanted a better view of her.

However, things never go right when Crystal is involved. An alarm sounded, Linda having accidentally set it off, as Crystal gasped, and the guard instantly looked at her, "Shes a distraction! Find the other!" He said, reaching for his baton as the clerk started to run. However, Crystal was faster, she wasn't suitable for adventure work but she still understood the basics of combat. She leaned in and hit the man once right in the solar plexus, it wasn't hard but it was enough to knock the wind out of him, she then grabbed his weapon off his belt while he was staggered and spun around, giving her strike momentum as she clobbered him very inelegantly over the head. He fell over, far from unconscious with how weak she was, but it was enough, she dropped the baton on his face and ran from the room.

However, luck was not on her side, as she found Linda kicking a guard over, after having beat them up herself, and then right in view of a camera, motioned for her to follow her, "This way toots, got tons of loot!" And then bolted for a side door in the back. Crystal could only groan but followed after her, running as fast as she could kicking off her heels, something she had chose not to abandon to preserve her look, and running on the cold asphalt that was outside the back of the store. The two of them ran together and as they reached a fence, Guards started to pour out of the back door, "There they are! Get them!" Linda hopped the fence in one smooth move, but when Crystal tried the same, all she got as a reward was a cry of pain, smashing against the fence hard. She heard the thundering of footsteps in her ears, and knew she was done for, Linda was gonna just keep running and then she'd take the full blame, it was over.

However, it wasn't all over yet, as a hand grabbed onto her collar, yanking her over the fence, "Jeez, that out of shape toots? Come on, hurry!" Linda said as she resumed running, having rescued her. Crystal went wide eye and continued running letting out a rushed "T-Thanks!" as they ran. But Lina waved it off, "Us miscreants gotta stay together right? I saw you working those bozos, you got skills!" She exclaimed. With a blush the talent-less girl ran alongside her, "Thanks I-"

However, they were cut off by somebody flying down in front of the alleyway they were running through landing right in front of them with an absolutely massive gun, "Hands where I can-" They paused as they saw the two girls and then started laughing as the girls slid to a stop, "Are you kidding me? You ran away at the final moments and now you're robbing jewelry stores? I didn't think an Underling could get any lower!"

Lina growled, "Shut it washboard! I don't see you doing any-" But she was cut off as the gigantic rifle fired and blasted Linda into the air then she slammed down into the ground hand, with a grunt of pain, Crystal rapidly turned to her, "Linda!" She reached over to help her up, but the girl at the alley entrance laughed and started to move closer, "Oh look, the Underling has an underling of her own! How precious! Tell you what, I'm in a good mood so I'll just do this." She kicks Linda onto her side rather roughly, then starts rifling around in her pockets, taking out everything Linda had stolen so carefully. She was left grunting from the pain but didn't resist.

After a bit the girl in black was done, and stood up, "I'll be returning these to the store now. Welcome to the stupid side, mini-underling. We'll be keeping an eye on you." She shoved Crystal to the ground roughly before flying off into the sky heading for the jeweler. Crystal groaned as she started to pull herself up, Linda doing the same, "Damn that brat … she even found my hidden pockets. So we got nothing out of it." She sighed and brushed herself off, "Damn, shouldn't have taken on a rookie. Now they'll hate you on sight too."

Crystal leaned against the wall, "... She didn't take everything." She explains after a few moments. Linda turned to her confused, "Huh? What do you mean?" And Crystal coughed, rubbing where she was shoved onto the floor, before reaching between her breasts, "... I figured you meant to betray me, so I stole some stuff myself." She pulls out a few gold chains with rings tangled up in them and a pair of shiny earrings. "They were so busy focusing on what I was wearing, they didn't pay attention to what I wasn't." She breathes out with a cough, holding her gut, smiling at Linda, "We at least got this."

Linda grinned, and walked over to her patting her on her good shoulder, "You're alright toots. Lets get you to the hideout. I know somebody who can turn this into money for us." She starts to run off leaving the unathletic girl groaning but chasing after her. It wasn't ever where she imagined herself being. Ratty, hiding in alleys, a fistful of stolen jewels, and chasing after the tail of Linda of all people, who was keeping an eye out for her …. but maybe, just maybe, it was something she could call home after these three months of nothing and pain.


	2. The Starting Line

**Sorry about the massive delay here, I got sidetracked by a lot of things and this is a shorter chapter than I wanted, but I wanted to make sure I could get this out while I had the chance to finish writing this. I'll try to keep the time between chapters a lot shorter than this, but there can be pretty significant dead spells in my writing inspiration. Anyways, please enjoy this short chapter.**

* * *

The tattered robe went back on, while her lovely dress was disheveled, it was still too intact and got a lot of attention. The robe Crystal wore around her body was the only reprieve she got, and the only reason anyone ever thought she needed help. Still the walk through Lastation was long, and it was pretty quiet, Linda didn't seem to have fully warmed up to her yet. They got some stares, but less and less as they reached a slum-like area near an edge of the land, and eventually Linda stopped at a bridge that was broken. It didn't lead anywhere, the other half having collapsed, and it was completely unassuming.

Which lead to Crystal's surprise when Linda announced, "This is the place." when she started walking forward with a simple command of "Over here." They made their way over some rubble which Linda grumbled as she pushed aside, "Wish he didn't do this every time I left." She sighed and managed to reveal a door that was hidden in the side of the bridge, and pulled it open, "Come on." She said heading in first. Left without much choice, Crystal followed her in and shut the door behind them.

Inside the remains of the bridge was a veritable tech center, with a black furred mouse with big ears like Linda's hoodie sitting at a computer desk typing away at a keyboard. The place was well lit and for being in the slums they had some nice stuff, a few hammocks, a fridge and some kitchen stuff, and even a ratty sofa propped against a wall with a TV across it sitting on a wooden box. Overall the place felt kinda cozy, even if super poor and villainous. "Warechu, I'm back." Linda announced as she walked over towards his chair.

"Yeah? What kept ya?" He asked in a rushed tone, still typing away and not looking up, which apparently upset Linda enough that she just sarcastically responded with "Made a friend." Though that was a bit much, as that actually got Warechu to stop, "Are my headphones stuck I my ears again or did you just say you 'made a friend'?" He spun the chair around to turn to Linda, but noticed Crystal, who waved at him weakly, standing by the door awkwardly. Warechu went wide eyed and looked at Linda, "You let a girl in here! And a pretty one at that?!" Linda huffed, "In-case you forgot, I'm a girl too!" She bonked him over the head before sighing, "And besides, shes a street rat too. I've seen her begging for a bit over two months now. Probably some disgraced Lastation Noble." Warechu still didn't look happy.

"Do you have any idea how dangerous that is? We're already without a support network, you can't just go dragging strangers back to our base without asking me, what happened to your earpiece anyways? I tried ringing you." Warechu demanded, and Linda just sighed, "Lost it in a scuffle with the guards. Really dumb too." "No shit sherlock." "Hey!" They jabbered away like that for a while before Crystal finally decided to step forward, "So, I can't stay?" She asked, and Warechu responded near instantly, "No way no how, sister." And then leaning forward Crystal asked, "Not even if I earn it?" Which caused Warechu's eyes to light up, "Explai-" However before he could even finish, the jewelry came spilling out of her cleavage onto the floor thanks to her lean, getting Warechu's undivided attention.

Linda couldn't help but laugh at Crystal's embarrassment as she leaned back and covered up her cleavage window once she was done and explained for her, "She was a distraction and then we got mugged by Black Sister on the way out, except she only though to take what I was carrying, not what she had stuffed on her person." "So what you're saying is she succeeded where you failed." "Hey! I was the one who even recruited her!"

Crystal gave pause at that, "Uhm … recruited?" and Warechu gave Linda a side glance, "You didn't tell her?" and Linda looked at the roof, "I was getting there, but getting away from that brat was more pressing." She rubbed the back of her head then pulled down her hoodie. "We used to be pirates, but now we're a resistance group without much support. We … had a falling out with our old leader, but we don't like the so called Goddesses either. So we're trying to stir the pot."

Warechu nods, "That's the gist of it, ya got it? If you're not okay with that, just scram and forget you ever saw us." It took some thinking but after a bit, Crystal shrugged. "Alright. I'm in." "Yeah so don't come bac- Wait what?!" Warechu cut themselves off, and Linda looked surprised, "You're not just gonna get info and bail on us, are you?" She asked, and Crystal shrugged before flopping down onto the tattered sofa.

"The way I see it, the Goddesses aren't exactly saints considering she roughed me up just for being there with you, and the world really could use some reform, I've experienced that first hand these past few months." She leans back her arms behind her head, "So … I'm in. What do you need of me?" Linda smirked and jerked a thumb over at Warechu "While he handles the finances of our loot, how about I show you the training room and the gear we've got? You've gotta wear something better than that robe after all if you wanna keep that dress in shape."

* * *

As it turns out, the training room was simply an empty area that was cleared out on the top of the remains of the bridge with a couple of scarecrow training dummies set up. As for the gear they had accumulated to offer to her ….

"You pull off the look nicely." "Why the hell do you have so many of these in every conceivable size?" Crystal was left asking as she wore a Warechu styled hoodie identical to Linda's, though hers was a bit more snug even though it was left open, it did indeed fit her assets. Linda just shrugged, "Warechu wanted to make it our uniform, and made a whole buncha them."

Aside from that, the weaponry Crystal had picked up was a reinforced bat that was 'Guaranteed to withstand even a Goddess' blade (though your strength might not)'. Considering she hadn't been given any kind of strength of skill before she had settled for a simple bat. There was some low quality blades and guns, but she didn't feel comfortable using any of them, the only thing she had combat experience with was a bat, and that was what she chose.

With the outfit and weapon squared away, Linda slapped the back of the training dummy, making it vibrate and sway at high speed, "Alright, give that new bat of yours a shot! Lets see how well you can rough this bad boy up." She said as she stepped aside. Honestly, she wasn't sure what to expect, Crystal had warned her that she couldn't be an adventurer, but she was skeptical as the girl clearly had a good head on her shoulders, and even if her strength sucked, she probably had some skill or even talent for magic, right? Still, that's what this measuring test was for. It was hooked up a device that would measure the output damage that it was impacted with.

The new girl stepped forward rolling her wrist smoothly to rotate the bat around as an idle warmup action. Following that, she moved in as she twisted to the side, pulling all of her power into that singular step. ringing forth her strength and maximizing the velocity she could swing the bat at with both hands giving it her all. The hoodie swayed slightly behind Crystal as she had moved forward, a testament to her speed, but the real kicker was the impact itself. The dummy shook and rattled from the impact, and there was a roaring crack sound.

The bat supposedly able to withstand the blade of a goddess had cracked and broken in half from that singular swing. And yet, when Linda glanced over to the damage meter, there was almost nothing there, it was in the high double digits, completely nothing remarkable at all for this world. It wasn't even enough to make a low rank adventurer think anything of it. And yet the bat had cracked, despite how little damage it dealt leaving Linda flabbergasted, the numbers just plain didn't add up at all.

Linda turned back to Crystal, a frown on her face as she stared at the broken reinforced bat in her hands, and the numbers flashed again in her mind. It was laughable. But after a moment she realized that the girl had something special about her, something neither of them understood yet, but she was determined just to find out. She sported a wide grin on her face as she asked the question plaguing her mind.

"Kid, just who the hell are you?"

* * *

Crystal had gotten a new bat of course, it was the same exact style (and promise) as the one she had broken, but right now, she was on patrol. Namely, she was looking for anyone who was a good mark. Linda didn't want her to pickpocket anyone just yet, but she had asked her to scout for stores or people that had flaws. Crystal was being honest in that she didn't have many applicable skills, but she had a sharp mind, and her perception was pretty incredible and they wanted to use that. So she was back in her tattered robes wandering Lastation, scouting for potential targets.

Honestly, she wasn't really sure what she was looking for so it was mostly taking in the sights. However, there was a scattered recognition she had of this world. She had seen it before, not in incredible depth, but it was a world she was familiar with … To be honest, she had always preferred Lowee, but beggars can't be choosers. Without some kind of pass or serious money it was impossible to cross between the two nations since Crystal wasn't an adventurer.

But Lastation wasn't bad. Still, she had a lingering resentment. She knew it was possible that the source had overblown it but … it was jarring to see how the Goddesses acted when it wasn't among people they respected and liked first hand. There was hints of it in the source material, that they were just assholes to anyone who was 'just' an NPC but she had expected better. Crystal shook her head to shake herself from her pondering. No, that was just further proof that siding with Linda was the right choice here. She wasn't a bad person at heart she felt, just down on her luck … and if she wanted to make this place better, to improve the attitude of those arrogant Goddesses …. She'd need to cause a Revolution.

* * *

 **AN: So, just to clarify, this is not a show of power. Crystal will never be particularly strong, she'll always be weak by Neptunia standards, but this is a side effect of her arrival. Props to anyone who can figure out what her 'ability' is, though to keep the suspense for anyone who can't figure it out, I wont confirm it.**


End file.
